So this is month 11 of the race and our minds are just about everywhere. My team and I try so hard to stay focused but our thoughts easily wander to things like: what am I going to do with my life when I get home? What will it be like to hug my family for the first time in 11 months? Will things with my friends be the same? Will everything be different? Where will I work? Will my dog remember me? What will I eat for my first meal back? What will happen to the kids that I have fallen in love with on this trip? What will it be like to sleep in a real bed with a real pillow? What will the cold be like after 11 months of summer? …our minds think about a lot of things. You can see how now in month 11 it can be hard to focus.
A really incredible thing happened as my team and I were out in a village out praying for people who are sick.
Each night my team and I share a message and testimony at numerous different village prayer meetings. This one night in particular, the pastor at the church we were going to speak at wanted us to go pray for the sick in his village. We had just finished praying for a man with a broken arm and were headed back down the little dirt road when we saw an old woman and two people on either side of her walking towards us. She was walking very slowly, barefooted and was using a walking stick. There was a look of relief when we reached her and she grabbed for our hands. After talking with the family with this woman our translator told us that she was 116 years old. With quick calculations we realized that this woman was born in 1897. When she heard that our team was here in her village she got up and started walking to try to find us. We were all taken aback. Her family slowly took her back to her house and we came and visited with them there. This precious old woman was scared. She kept pleading that we would pray for her to see her Savior in Heaven. She was ready to be home. She knew we had Jesus with us so we prayed that she would be comforted and have peace. She held onto my hand so tight. At 116, she was still praising God.
We all walked out of that situation quite speechless. Processing through all that happened that night, I realized that this is why we are still here. With 4 weeks to go, it is moments like that, that still keep me going. That sweet old woman found hope in us. She saw Jesus in us, not because we are white, but because of His love and comfort for us.
